Trearddur Bay lifeboat station

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An inshore lifeboat station was established here in 1967 as part of the RNLI’s response to the growth in coastal leisure and tourism. The station was equipped with a D-class lifeboat.

photo_of_william_and_kate_trearddur_bayIn 1971 the RNLI awarded bronze medals to helmsman John Burns and crew member Edmund Williams for rescuing two people whose dinghy had capsized near Cod Rocks. A new boathouse was built the same year, and was supplanted by a larger boathouse completed in 1993.

In 1996 the D-class boat was replaced by a larger Atlantic 21 lifeboat, which itself was soon replaced by an Atlantic 75 boat. In 1997 the lifeboat was called out to a hot-air balloon which had been blown out to sea while trying to fly over Snowdon.

In 2001 the RNLI decided to locate a D-class inshore lifeboat at Trearddur Bay alongside the Atlantic 75.

In 2010 the B-class Atlantic 85 lifeboat Hereford Endeavour entered service at the station. On 24 February 2011 it was officially named by HRH Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton, in one of their first official engagements together (see photo above). Prince William was then stationed at nearby RAF Valley.

In October 2012 the station’s new D-class boat was named Clive & Imelda Rowlins. The new boats are pictured below.

photo_of_trearddur_lifeboatsIn 2022 the RNLI awarded a silver medal to helm Lee Duncan and bronze medals to crew members Dafydd Griffiths, Leigh McCann and Michael Doran for their courage and skill in rescuing a surfer in May 2021. The Atlantic 85 lifeboat was at its operational limits in the Force 9 gale. The rescuers reached the exhausted surfer when she was just 10 metres from Cod Rocks. The storm threatened to dash her against the jagged rockface. With great skill and precision timing, the boat was brought close enough to recover the casualty without endangering the boat and crew.

The lifeboat service in the UK is provided not by government but by the RNLI, a charity which relies on donations from the public. Since it was established in 1824, the RNLI is estimated to have saved c.140,000 lives. It employs some crew members but most, 40,000 in total, are volunteers who leave their work, families or beds whenever their lifeboat is needed.

Postcode: LL65 2UP View Location Map

RNLI website

RNLI on HistoryPoints.org

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FOOTNOTES: More Trearddur Bay rescues

  • 1999 - Framed Letter of Thanks to helmsman Alan Hughes after a difficult search for a child who had fallen into the sea at Rhoscolyn.
  • 2001 - Jack Abbott MBE, the station’s honorary secretary, received the Royal Humane Society’s Testimonial Vellum and Resuscitation Certificate for swimming out to sea to rescue and resuscitate a man who was floating face down.
  • 2002 - Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum to helmsman Christopher Pritchard for the rescue of three people from a capsized speedboat. He also received the 2001 Walter and Elizabeth Groombridge Award for this rescue.
  • 2006 - Helmsman Terry Pendlebury received a Framed Letter of Thanks for his part in saving the lives of two divers.